Vent control system

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to an HVAC vent control system. There is a need for a mechanism by which an operator can easily adjust HVAC vent controls for vents remote from the operator. A roof panel forms a set of air vents and ports. A vent control unit includes left and right door units mounted for rotation on the panel. Each door unit has a louver door and a gear piece connected thereto. The louver doors are movable to control airflow through the ports. The gear pieces are in meshing engagement with the other so that the door units operate symmetrically with respect to each other. A control knob is coupled to the one of the gear pieces so that rotation of the knob causes rotation of the first and second gear pieces and corresponding movement of the left and right louver doors.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a vehicle conditioned air vent controlsystem.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It has been proposed to place vehicle heating, ventilation and airconditioning (HVAC) systems in the roofs of vehicles, such as tractors.Roof HVAC system designs are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,780,097,issued 24 Aug. 2004, and in patent application Ser. No. 11/518,050,filed 8 Sep. 2006 (attorney docket no. 17652-US), both assigned to theassignee of the present application. In order to keep the height of theHVAC system as low as possible, the components of the system must bespread out across much of the roof area. Conditioned air from such anHVAC system blows into the vehicle cab through several vents formed inthe roof. Each vent may have adjustable louvers so that airflow througheach vent may be controlled individually. Some of the vents may bepositioned at a distance from the operator which prevents the operatorfrom comfortably reaching the vents to adjust the louvers. It is desiredto provide a mechanism by which an operator can easily adjust air flowthrough vents which are remote from the operator.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide a system whichallows an operator to easily adjust air flow through vents which areremote from the operator.

This and other objects are achieved by the present invention, wherein aroof panel forms a portion of a chamber for receiving conditioned airfrom a roof-mounted HVAC system. The panel includes a set of left airvents and a set right air vents. The panel includes a plurality of wallswhich form a set of left ports and a set of right ports. Each left portcommunicates with a corresponding one of the left vents, and each rightport communicates with a corresponding one of the right vents. The leftand right ports and vents are preferably symmetrical with respect toeach other. A vent control unit includes a left door unit and a rightdoor unit. Both door units are mounted for rotation on the panel. Eachdoor unit has a louver door and a gear piece connected thereto. Thelouver door of the left door unit is movable to control airflow throughthe left ports. The louver door of the right door unit is movable tocontrol airflow through the right ports. The gear pieces are in meshingengagement with the other so that the door units operate symmetricallywith respect to each other. An actuator or control knob is operable byan operator and is operatively coupled to the one of the gear pieces sothat operation of the actuator causes rotation of the first and secondgear pieces and corresponding movement of the first and second louverdoors.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective top view of an inner roof panel with a ventcontrol system according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded top perspective view of a portion of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a bottom perspective view of the vent control unit of FIG. 1with the roof panel removed;

FIG. 4 is a bottom perspective detailed view showing the cam member anddetent spring of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is perspective view of a control knob unit for use with thepresent invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown the upper side of an inner roofpanel 10 for a cab of a vehicle, such as a tractor. A central region ofthe panel 10 forms a portion of a chamber 12 which receives conditionedair from an HVAC unit (not shown). Walls 14 and 16 direct conditionedair to left floor opening 22 which is connected to a left cab floor vent(not shown) by conduits (not shown). Walls 18 and 20 direct conditionedair to right floor opening 24 which is connected to a right cab floorvent (not shown) by conduits (not shown).

Walls 16 and 26 direct air to a left A/C vent 30. Walls 18 and 28 directair to a right A/C vent 32. Walls 16, 26 and 34 direct air to a leftwindshield defogger vent 36. Walls 18, 28 and 38 direct air to a rightwindshield defogger vent 40. Walls 34 preferably extend in afore-and-aft direction and are symmetrical about a central fore-and-aftplane. A mode control unit 42 is mounted on the panel 10 and controlsair flow from area 12 to vents 22, 24, 30, 32, 36 and 40. A support post44 projects from the panel 10 mid-way between the inner edges of walls14 and 20. A retainer bracket 46 has a main arm 48 and a branch arm 50.Opposite ends of arm 48 are mounted on the inner ends of walls 16 and18. The end of branch arm 50 is supported by post 44. The walls arepreferably molded with the panel 10 and form passages to the vents.These passages and vents make possible four airflow modes for airexiting the forward portion of the cabin—defog, defog/foot, AC, and all.Vents 22, 24, 30, 32, 36 and 40 may be arranged symmetrically aboutwalls 34 and 38.

As best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the vent or mode control unit 42 includesa pair of (preferably identical) first and second door units 52 and 54mounted for rotation between the panel 10 and the bracket 44. Each doorunit includes a louver door 56, a gear member 58, and a pivot pin 60.Each door unit also includes an upper arm 62 which connects an upperedge of door 56 to an upper part of pin 60 and a pair of lower arms 64,66 which connect a lower corner of door 56 to a lower part of pin 60. Asmaller diameter end 68, 70 of each pin projects through and isrotatably received by a corresponding bore 72, 74 in the panel 10. As aresult, the door units 52 and 54 are in a clamshell type arrangementwhere the motion of each door unit is tied to the other by the gearmembers 58.

An port 80, communicated with vent 30, is formed by the inner ends ofwalls 16 and 26. An port 82, communicated with vent 36, is formed by theinner ends of walls 26 and 34. An port 84, communicated with vent 40, isformed by the inner ends of walls 34 and 28. An port 86, communicatedwith vent 32, is formed by the inner ends of walls 28 and 18. The leftports 80 and 82 and the right ports 84 and 86 are symmetrical withrespect to each other. Door unit 52 is rotatable about the axis of itspin 60 to control airflow through ports 80 and 82. Door unit 54 isrotatable about the axis of its pin 60 to control airflow through ports84 and 86. The gear members 58 are in meshing engagement with the eachother. The pin ends 68 and 70 have splines.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 4, a cam member 71 is mounted on thesplines of pin end 70 so that cam member 71 is non-rotatably coupled topin 60 of door unit 54. An arm 73 projects from the round body of cammember 71. A known detent spring member 90 is placed between the cammember 71 and the panel 10 and is mounted for rotation with the cammember 71. As best seen in FIG. 4, the spring member 90 has a detent tab92 which cooperates in a known manner with detent recesses 94 formed inthe bottom surface of panel 10 to releasable hold the door members 52and 54 in a plurality of desired positions to open and close the ports80-86.

As best seen in FIG. 3, an end of a Bowden type cable 100 is coupled tothe arm 73 of cam member 71. As best seen in FIG. 5, the other end ofcable 100 is coupled to a known operator rotatable actuator or controlknob unit 102 with knob 104 which may be mounted in a location in thevehicle cab so that it may be easily reached and manipulated by anoperator of the vehicle. Instead of a mechanical cable, the door units52 and 54 could be rotated by an electric or hydraulic motor respondingto a suitable electric or hydraulic device coupled to the knob 104.

With this system, when the operator rotates the knob 104 of control knobunit 102, the cable 100 pivots or rotates the cam member 71 and therebyrotates door member 54 because of the meshing engagement of gear pieces58, the rotation of door member 54 causes door member 52 to rotate inthe opposite direction, so that the door members 52 and 54 operatesymmetrically with respect to each other. With this invention, airflowmode control is provided for air vents too far to reach without standingup.

While the present invention has been described in conjunction with aspecific embodiment, it is understood that many alternatives,modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in theart in light of the foregoing description. Accordingly, this inventionis intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications andvariations which fall within the spirit and scope of the appendedclaims.

1. In a vehicle HVAC system having a housing with a plurality of portsfor directing conditioned air to a plurality of vents, an vent controlsystem comprising: the housing having a first port and a second portadjacent to the first port; first and second door units mounted forrotation on the housing, each door unit having a louver door and a gearpiece connected thereto, each louver door being movable to controlairflow through a corresponding one of the ports, each gear piece beingin meshing engagement with the other gear piece; and an actuator remotefrom the door units for manipulation by an operator, the actuator beingoperatively coupled to one of the gear pieces so that operation of theactuator causes rotation of the first and second gear pieces andcorresponding movement of the first and second louver doors.
 2. The ventcontrol system of claim 1, wherein: the actuator comprises a rotatableknob which is coupled to the gear piece by a Bowden cable.
 3. The ventcontrol system of claim 1, wherein: each door unit comprises a bearingpin rotatably mounted to the housing, and a plurality of arms connectedto one of the louver doors, one of the gear pieces being mounted on thebearing pin.
 4. The vent control system of claim 3, wherein: a pair ofthe arms connect the louver door to the gear piece, and one of the armsconnects the louver door to the bearing pin.
 5. The vent control systemof claim 3, wherein: a pair of the arms connect opposite corners of thelouver door to the gear piece, and one of the arms connects an edge thelouver door to the bearing pin.
 6. The vent control system of claim 1,wherein: the housing comprises a mounting plate, the mounting platehaving a pair of spaced apart bores extending therethrough; each doorunit is mounted on one side of the plate, and each door unit comprises abearing pin rotatably received in a corresponding one of the bores. 7.The vent control system of claim 6, further comprising: a cam membermounted on an opposite side of the plate and non-rotatably connected toone of the bearing pins, the cam member having a cam arm operativelycoupled to the linkage.
 8. The vent control system of claim 1, wherein:the housing comprises a roof panel.
 9. A vehicle conditioned air ventcontrol system, comprising: a roof panel forming a portion of a chamberfor receiving conditioned air, the panel including at least a pair ofleft air vents and at least a pair of right air vents, and the panelincluding a plurality of walls which form at least a pair of left portsand at least a pair of right ports, each left port communicating with acorresponding one of the left vents, and each right port communicatingwith a corresponding one of the right vents; and a vent control unitcomprising a left door unit and a right door unit, both door unitsmounted for rotation on the panel, each door unit having a louver doorand a gear piece connected thereto, the louver door of the left doorunit being movable to control airflow through the left ports, the louverdoor of the right door unit being movable to control airflow through theright ports, the gear pieces being in meshing engagement with the otherso that the door units operate symmetrically with respect to each other.10. The vent control system of claim 9, wherein: the left and rightports and vents are symmetrical with respect to each other.
 11. The ventcontrol system of claim 9, further comprising: an actuator operable byan operator, the actuator being operatively coupled to the one of thegear pieces so that operation of the actuator causes rotation of thefirst and second gear pieces and corresponding movement of the first andsecond louver doors.
 12. The vent control system of claim 9, wherein:each door unit comprises a bearing pin rotatably mounted to the panel,and a plurality of arms connected to one of the louver doors, each gearpiece fixed with respect to one of the bearing pins.
 13. The ventcontrol system of claim 12, wherein: a pair of the arms connect thelouver door to the gear piece, and one of the arms connects the louverdoor to the bearing pin.
 14. The vent control system of claim 12,wherein: a pair of the arms connect opposite corners of the louver doorto the gear piece, and one of the arms connects an edge of the louverdoor to the bearing pin.
 15. The vent control system of claim 9,wherein: the panel comprises a mounting plate, the mounting plate havinga pair of spaced apart bores extending therethrough; each door unit ismounted on one side of the plate, and each door unit comprises a bearingpin rotatably received in a corresponding one of the bores.
 16. The ventcontrol system of claim 15, further comprising: a cam member mounted onan opposite side of the plate and non-rotatably connected to one of thebearing pins, the cam member having a cam arm operatively coupled to thelinkage.